The Curious Case of Talia Teeven
by ReginaMera
Summary: Talia Teeven is no normal human, with a mind that processes faster than the greatest computer and a mysterious attitude, she is by far the strangest person they have ever met.
1. The Death of Taylor Temmer

This was it. This was the night of her death. She didn't want to believe it, accept it, no, she wanted more.

Bullets rang and echoed in the cold night, a few flying past her head and the rest barely missing her arms.

"What's the use of killing me if you need me?" She hollered, dark brown eyes searching for something, anything that she could use.

"He'll deal with it!" The man responded, firing another bullet at her head.

She ducked and skidded around a corner as she joined the main road.

"Yeah, he'll deal with you!" She called back, "And your head will be lopped off!"

Her eyes finally stopped on two men. Two men, she knew very well. They didn't know her, they didn't even know each other well.

She came to a halt and whipped around with her hands flying up, "You wouldn't dare fire off a gun in this crowd. I'm sure someone around here could... _retaliate_."

He didn't seem to catch her drift and moved slightly closer towards her, "They'll all scatter like the disgusting ants they are."

She narrowed her eyes, "You are one sad little man, aren't you?"

He snorted, eyes gaining a dark look to them, "Well, we all can't be geniuses, sweetheart."

"Genius, _me_? I'm high-functioning, not incredibly intelligent. Get it right." She stated with a smirk, head tilting to the side slightly.

He placed the gun at her heart, finger already on the trigger. She didn't even blink, her eyes fearless as she gazed into his, "Have fun explaining this to him."

* * *

 _ **Bang**_

Two men stopped as the sound rang through the air which was followed by a loud 'thump'. It was almost an immediate reaction as the street emptied, leaving only two other individuals. One was holding a gun, the other in a puddle of their own blood.

"How a-are you…" The gun-toting man began, eyes going wide as he looked at the woman he just shot.

Then to the amazement of them all, she pushed herself up and punched the man in the face, "That's for me to know…" She paused to cough, blood flying out of her mouth as she did so, "And for you to never, _ever_ find out."

The woman stumbled slightly, her eyes flying to her hands, "Not here." She muttered, looking around until she met the two men's eyes.

There was no shock in her eyes, no fear, no pain. Almost as if she wasn't really there. The woman's eyes slammed shut as a streetlight suddenly grew very bright, she paused as if in confusion before nodding.

The light died down to reveal that the woman was gone, the shooter was dead, and a chiming phone was the only thing left behind.

* * *

Sherlock Holmes was not one to be surprised, but when a woman who is shot directly in the heart gets up and punches a man, he can't help himself.

 _Black woman with a northern accent, possibly in her late thirties, single, very intelligent, high pain tolerance, travels a lot…_ His thoughts paused for a second as he remembered her punching him, _...Trained in hand to hand._

The annoying chiming of a phone dragged him back into reality and he looked at the dead man once more. The phone lit up from inside the man's pocket, the chiming muffled slightly by the fabric.

He got the phone out and it turned on once he looked at it, _One new message?_ He thought, looking at the blinking words before pressing it.

The phone froze for a second until a woman's voice began playing, _"Hello, Holmes. We haven't met before and we never will. Well...Not right now, and most definitely not in this body. Getting off track, if you want to know more I have a contact that knows everything about me. I can't say much cause it's hush-hush, you know what I mean, but his name starts with M. You also can't call him with my phone, yeah I knew you were gonna do that, he blacklisted me when I sent him the correct codeword. Don't worry about hunting me down, I usually find myself meeting those who want to meet me in the oddest of places. Now...I believe you have a cabbie to find…"_

John, who had been silent for a few minutes, looked up, "A cabbie?"

The phone chimed once more, _"Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes unnoticed wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?"_

"How does she know about that?" John asked, looking quite bewildered at what she just said.

This time the phone didn't even chime, _"I know everything, it's an unfortunate curse, John."_ The woman coughed a little once she said his name, _"I even knew I was going to get shot through the left ventricle, and I knew that you both were nearby."_ She gasped as the message got a little more staticky, _"And I knew waking up this morning that today would be my last day. But, please, do keep this in mind. I want you two to continue on, forget about little old me."_ The static grew even louder, _"'Cause you won't find my-"_ The message dropped, a steady beep echoing through the empty street.

Sherlock looked at the phone in annoyance, "She's controlling the phone from a second phone." He stated as the phone's password was entered automatically, _She wants me to look through her phone?_ He questioned silently, looking at the phone as it scrolled through the contacts.

There were only four contacts, one obviously being an ex, two being friends or relatives and the other the mysterious M.

The phone then went to her mail, and unsurprisingly it was empty. _Emptied recently._ The phone exited out then went to her texts, which were all cleared.

Sherlock stood up and looked at John, "Her phone was recently cleared of everything, emails, texts, phone numbers." He looked at the phone as his eyes narrowed.

Two words appeared on the screen, well a name actually, "Taylor Temmer." He said, looking at the name and memorizing it for the future.

"What?" John asked as he wasn't really paying and was instead looking at the dead man.

"Her name, it's Taylor Temmer." Sherlock shoved the phone into his pocket and began walking away, "Keep up John."

John looked at him in disbelief, "You're just leaving?"

"She said to forget about her so I'm just following her dying wish." He responded with an emotionless look on his face.


	2. My Never-Ending Mystery

She opened her eyes slowly as thousands of thoughts flew through her head. So many things, so many people, except for one.

"Holmes." She whispered, eyes going wide, "How long has it been?"

The TARDIS chirped to her and she sighed, "Four days?" She sat up from her position on the floor, "Send a message to M, tell him that it's done and that I plan to visit Holmes."

She shakingly stood up, holding onto the edge of the console for support, "Also, mirror please."

A mirror flipped up on the console and her eyes went wide. Staring back at her was a woman with pale skin, big gray-blue eyes, and long light brown hair. Her eyes were definitely the most notable feature on her youthful face, while her plump lips were the second. She touched her cheeks carefully, "I...I look so _young_."

She kept staring at her eyes, they reminded her of someone. _Well, there's always the possibility that something influenced my regeneration...But, who has eyes like these?_

The TARDIS' overhead screen flashed through countless faces quickly before stopping rather abruptly at one face. One face she knew very well.

"Holmes? That's what you're thinking?" The TARDIS beeped in rapid succession and she sighed, "Well, I was messaging him before I regenerated." She let go of the console and straightened up, "5'10? Man, this is the tallest I'll probably ever be." She shook her head, trying to focus on the subject at hand, "I need to get out of these clothes."

She ran down the corridor and flung a door open, a million things going through her head. She picked out a white peasant blouse that had blue flower designs near the scoop neck, black pants that hugged her figure and a pair of black ankle combat boots. She grabbed a dark blue double-breasted trench coat with white buttons and a belt, and some leather gloves.

She fixed the coat before grinning, "Now just to find the guy."

Running back out to the console, she felt excited. Excited to finally meet the man she was told to observe for so so long. "How much time has passed for him, I know it was only four days for me, but I don't trust you on the outside time."

The TARDIS beeped in annoyance and the woman cried out in pain, "You shocked me?! Ugh forget you, I'll just find out myself!"

The woman stomped out into the cold London air. She would never get used to it, no, it was far too different. _You were punished so you better get used to it._ Her mind reminded her causing her to sigh once more. _I seem to be doing a lot of that._ She thought as she gazed at the sky, _Perhaps this body likes doing that._

She picked up her pace and looked at a familiar street sign, Baker Street. She would soon meet him, and all those years waiting and watching will be worth it. She glanced up at the sky, _And they will let me return once I discover the truth._

The truth of who Sherlock Holmes really was.

* * *

The woman folded her hands in her lap, tilting her head with a little grin on her face. She seemed so nonchalant as she sat in the chair. Correction, his chair.

"Why did you let her up?" John asked, looking at Mrs. Hudson who sat in the other chair.

"She said that you told her to wait here." She said, looking at Sherlock whose eyes were locked onto the woman's own.

The woman pulled out her phone, "Yep, here it is!"

 _If I'm not there, just wait - SH_

He quickly looked at his own phone, he wasn't too surprised to find that he did not send it, nope, he recognized someone who could do that. And that someone was sitting a few feet in front of him.

"Who are you?" He asked, looking her over.

"Names Talia, Talia Teeven." She rolled her shoulders, "And you are Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. One a self-proclaimed consulting detective and the other a war veteran. Afghanistan, isn't it?"

John looked surprised as the young woman looked at him in expectation, "Erm...Yeah." He said after a minute or so.

She stood up, her eyes closing as her phone rang, she whipped it out, "Yes?" Her eyes snapped open, "Oh...it's you. Yeah, I'm busy! Very _very_ busy, with a task of utmost importance-Wait...what?" She froze, "You wouldn't, you promised to leave him out of this! It's just us, he was never in the deal! Fine, just leave him alone." She hung up the phone and shook her head, pushing past the two men in the doorway, her expression now neutral as she went down the stairs.

Talia grabbed her jacket and threw it on, "We'll meet again, Holmes, and in the most unexpected place." She shot him a wink, "Remember that and please do figure out who M is."

* * *

Not many things surprise him, yet here he was surprised at the woman's last sentence, _It's nearly identical to what Taylor Temmer had said._

He still had Taylor Temmer's phone, it was far too interesting to get rid of after all, and when it chimed his eyes flew to it.

"The woman's phone...How?" John asked, shocked as Sherlock grabbed it and turned it on.

" _I told you we'd meet again. Is someone in denial? Ah...Even the greatest mind cannot figure it out, ah, I love humans...They simply cannot compute the impossible, even when the impossible is completely possible. If I told you what and who I was, you'd be denying it without a second thought. A madwoman you would call me, you would say that I deserve to be in the mental ward. I would try to prove it to you, but you would walk away. You would erase the notion of the impossible being possible, you'd rewrite your memories_ _of_ _me. You. Would. Forget."_ Taylor chuckled, _"Remarkable...You're so remarkable. Remember that, Holmes, and please do figure out who M is."_

"Talia Teeven and the Taylor Temmer are connected." He stated, eyes wide as the phone chirped once more.

 _"One mystery down...A thousand more to go...Have fun Holmes."_ Taylor's voice faded, and Sherlock pocketed the phone.

"Could Talia and the Taylor be the same person?" John asked, watching as the man pulled out his own phone.

"Taylor Temmer was black with brown eyes and black hair, she also had a northern accent. Talia Teeven is the complete opposite of that." Sherlock said, looking at John with a slight frown on his otherwise emotionless face.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Ms. Teeven, what brings you here?" The man asked, a small smile on his face.

"Cut the crap, M, you know why I'm here. I don't appreciate what you did. You know that I need to do this, so stop being so dang overprotective of your little bro." She stated quietly, her voice full of venom.

"Nobody else is here, and is it such a horrible thing to worry about your sibling sometimes?"

"The way you worry is horrible. Threatening me with gunmen, give me a break." She glared at him, causing him to drop his smile.

"We both know how unpredictable you could be, and I don't trust unpredictable." He replied, a serious look on his face.

"I'd never hurt him, Mycroft." She said, her voice going soft, "You know that, you're not stupid."

He was about to reply when someone knocked on the door. The person turned out to be Anthea who glanced up at the two, "Your brothers here."

Mycroft glanced at Talia who shrugged in response, "Send him in."

Anthea nodded as she continued to text on her phone, closing the door as Talia frowned.

"He figured it out that quick? Heh, should've known." She said, looking at her fingernails.

The doors opened and she smirked but kept looking at her nails.

"What do you know about her?" Sherlock asked, looking at Mycroft with annoyance in his voice.

"Talia Teeven?" He looked at his brother with an amused smirk, "Quite a bit, but I believe she could tell you more."

Talia stood up, whipping around with a look of mischief in her eyes. "Hello, Holmes."

"Why are you here?" The man asked, but she could tell that he knew why.

She smirked, "You know why."

"The man on the phone-"

Talia nodded, "Correct. And M is…"

"Mycroft." The man finished, a little smirk on his face at the fact that he figured her mystery out.

She turned around to face him, "And the phone, what about that phone?"

He instantly frowned, shooting her a look of question that seemed so out of place on him.

"Think. What connects me, Talia Teeven and Taylor Temmer?" She said, folding her arms as she glanced at the pocket holding the phone, "And an even greater mystery...How is Taylor messaging you? Surely there isn't a way she could've lived. A shot through the left ventricle? Death is guaranteed, and she disappeared. She never made it to a hospital, no, she died in an alleyway." Talia shrugged, tilting her head at him, "Yet...She continues to message you."

He didn't say anything right away, but she could tell he was not expecting that. "How do you know all this? Taylor Temmer's body was never found." He stated, walking up to her with that look of barely disguised shock in his eyes.

She could tell it was killing him, the fact that she knew something he didn't was something he obviously hated. His eyes were practically scanning her as she kept up the smile.

"I know many things, so many things that it hurts sometimes." She said quietly, "No fun if you know everything."

"Yet there's something you don't know." He said, gazing into her eyes. _He's good._ Talia thought as she studied his expression, _Really good._

Her smile fell, "I can't solve him. Years and years have gone by, yet, here I am, still struggling to discover what goes on in his head." She sighed, "He's the reason I haven't killed myself. He's my never-ending mystery that I can't solve."


	3. Boom

"You must be very bored to invite me." Talia commented, smoothing out her black skirt.

Sherlock picked up a pistol, "Bored." He fired a shot off at a yellow smiley face on the wall. Talia smirked as he tilted the pistol a different way, "Bored."

 _He's so bored he didn't even hear me. How nice._ Talia thought, pulling out her phone and texting someone.

She glanced up as John got up the steps, "What the hell are you doing?" He yelled, lowering his hands as he stared at Sherlock.

"Bored." Sherlock replied in an almost sulking sound tone.

"What?" John asked, squinting at him in disbelief.

" _Bored!_ " He said loudly this time, springing out of his seat while switching the pistol to his right hand and turning towards the smiley face, firing at it again. He then swung his arm around his back, twisting slightly to his right and firing at the wall from behind his back.

"Bored! Bored!" Sherlock repeated, only sounding quite angry this time.

Talia put her phone down, "Hello John!" She waved at him with a smile.

"Hello...what are you doing here?" He asked, turning his attention to her.

Talia gestured her head towards Sherlock, "He invited me."

John shook his head and hurried into the room while Sherlock continued to glare at the smiley face. He allowed John to take the pistol, who promptly took the clip out of the gun.

"Don't know what's got into the criminal classes. Good job I'm not one of them." Sherlock said, returning to his previous sulky mood.

John locked the gun in a small safe on the dining table and straightened up, "So you take it out on the wall."

He ran his fingers along the painted smile, "Ah, the wall had it coming." He turned sideways and dramatically flopped down onto the sofa on his back, his head landing on a cushion at one end and his feet digging into the arm of the sofa at the end nearest the windows.

Talia smirked at that and picked up her phone once more.

John took off his coat, "What about that Russian case?"

Sherlock pushed with his feet to shove himself further along the sofa and into a slightly more upright position, "Belarus. Open and shut domestic murder. Not worth my time."

"Ah, shame." John replied sarcastically, walking into the kitchen only to throw his arms up in despair at the mess on the table before walking to the fridge. "Anything in? I'm starving." He said to himself as he opened the fridge door.

"Oh, f…" He immediately slams it shut again, unable to believe what he just saw inside. He slumps against the door for a moment, his head lowered, then he straightens up and opens the door again.

"Sorry, John. I forgot to tell you about the head, didn't I?" Talia called out, smiling a little as she continued to text someone.

"You knew about the head?" John asked, glancing at her in disbelief.

"Yep." Talia chimed, meeting his with a cheeky smirk.

He shook his head at that and peeked at the at once more, "A severed head!"

"Just tea for me, thanks." Sherlock replied, not even glancing at John who was walking back into the living room.

"No, there's a head in the fridge." John said, looking pointedly at Sherlock.

"Yes." Sherlock said calmly, still not looking at John.

"A bloody head!" John said loudly, causing Sherlock to finally look at him.

"Well, where else was I supposed to put it?" He said stroppily while glancing at Talia before looking at John, "You don't mind, do you?"

John held out his hands despairingly and looked back at the fridge.

"I got it from Bart's morgue." Sherlock stated as John buried his head in one hand. "I'm measuring the coagulation of saliva after death."

He waved his hand in the direction of a nearby laptop, "I see you've written up the taxi driver case."

John threw one last glance at the fridge, "Uh, yes."

"A Study in Pink, hmm." Talia said, looking up from her phone, "Brilliant."

John gave her a small smile, "Well, you know, pink lady, pink case, pink phone – there was a lot of pink." He looked at Sherlock, "Did you like it?"

"Erm, no." Sherlock answered, looking at a magazine

"Why not? I thought you'd be flattered." John said in surprise.

Sherlock lowered the magazine and glared at him, "Flattered?" He raised his index fingers, "Sherlock sees through everything and everyone in seconds. What's incredible, though, is how spectacularly _ignorant_ he is about some things."

"Now hang on a minute. I didn't mean that in a…" John began but was interrupted by the other man.

"Oh, you meant "spectacularly ignorant" in a nice way. Look, it doesn't matter to me who's Prime Minister…"

"I know…" John said quietly.

"...or who's sleeping with who…" Sherlock continued, causing John to crack a smile.

"Whether the Earth goes round the Sun …" John said softly, but loud enough it caught even Talia's attention.

"Really?" She looked at Sherlock in amusement.

"Not that again. It's not important." Sherlock looked at her in annoyance as she laughed into her hand.

"It's primary school stuff. How can you not know that?" Talia asked, laughing even harder as she did so.

Sherlock shot her a glare, "Well if I ever did, I've deleted it."

"Deleted it?" John repeated

Sherlock swung his legs around to the floor and sat up to face John, "Listen." He points to his head with one finger. "This is my hard drive, and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful ... really useful." He grimaced, "Ordinary people fill their heads with all kinds of rubbish, and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters. Do you see?"

John bit his lip for a moment or so, but he couldn't contain himself, "But it's the solar system!

Talia, who had controlled her laughing at this point, fell into yet another fit of laughter, dropping her phone in the process.

"Oh, hell! What does that matter?!" Sherlock looked at John in frustration.

"So we go round the Sun! If we went round the Moon, or round and round the garden like a teddy bear …" He flailed his hands around beside his head while narrating the line from the children's poem, "... it wouldn't make any difference. All that matters to me is the work. Without that, my brain rots."

Talia coughed a little as her laughter stopped. She then glanced out the window for a moment or so before looking back at them.

Sherlock ruffles his hair with both hands, then glares at John, "Put that in your blog. Or better still, stop inflicting your opinions on the world." Petulantly shoving the magazine across the coffee table, he lied down on the sofa again, turning over with his back to John and pulling his dressing gown around him while curling up into a ball.

John looked away and pursed his lips and walks towards the living room door.

"Where are you going?" Sherlock asked, looking over his shoulder at the man.

"Out. I need some air." John said tightly, putting on his jacket.

He heads for the stairs, which Mrs. Hudson is just coming up.

"'Scuse me, Mrs …" John started but Mrs. Hudson just apologized back.

Angrily, Sherlock turns his face away again, pulling the cushion under his head nearer to the back of the sofa and curling up even tighter.

Talia grabbed her heavy trenchcoat and slid a pair of gloves on as she whispered a soft word, so soft that it barely reached the cranky detective.

"Latin?" He questioned turning to look at her with mild interest. Talia blinked at the word, eyebrow raising in question.

He didn't have the chance to ask as Mrs. Hudson entered the room, "Ooh-Ooh!"

Talia merely nodded at the woman while continuing to look out window and mumble.

Sherlock stretches his legs out straight and turned his head enough to acknowledge her existence, but then looked back at Talia again.

Mrs. Hudson carries a couple of shopping bags into the kitchen. "Have you two had a little domestic?" She asked, obviously referring to the incident with John.

Flailing to get himself upright, Sherlock stands up off the sofa and walks over the coffee table before going to the left-hand window where Talia was standing.

"Ignore me. Been a couple years since the last time I did this." Her eyes flew up to meet his, "My mind is over cluttered and I have to forcefully delete useless memories. Quite similar to what you do, Holmes." She grinned wryly, "Only it's the entire Spanish language that's going out the door."

How is she doing that so easily? He mentally asked, watching as her eyes flickered in humor as if she could hear his thoughts.

"Monks. It was a group of monks in Northern China. It's an ancient technique they used to file their thoughts and refresh everything. I learned it by accident." She chuckled lowly, returning her gaze to the window.

He was mildly surprised by that, but not enough to voice his thoughts as he continued to observe her.

"Ooh, it's a bit nippy out there. He should have wrapped himself up a bit more." Mrs. Hudson said as the downstairs door closed.

Sherlock turned his gaze to the street as John crosses the street, "Look at that." He scans the street, "Quiet, calm, peaceful." He grimaces and drags in a long breath. "Isn't it hateful?"

"Not the word I'd use." Talia commented, still gazing out the window.

Mrs. Hudson has unloaded some items from her shopping bags and now brandished a receipt at Sherlock before putting it down on the kitchen table.

"Oh, I'm sure something'll turn up, Sherlock. A nice murder – that'll cheer you up." Mrs. Hudson said, chuckling slightly as she carries her own bags towards the door.

"Can't come too soon." He said wistfully, silently noting that Talia's body was now tense.

"Hey. What've you done to my bloody wall?!" Mrs. Hudson asked, an angry tone to her voice as she looked at the yellow smiley face.

Talia glanced back, eyes watching the older woman's movements. Her right hand twitched as Sherlock quirked a smile, turning around to admire his handiwork.

"I'm putting this on your rent, young man!" Mrs. Hudson said, anger never leaving her as she stormed off down the steps.

Talia's eyes narrowed as they flew back to the window. Suddenly, she wheeled around and forced the man onto the floor. "Don't retaliate, Holmes. Unless you really really want some glass shards in random parts of your body." She said quietly, her much smaller hands pinning him down while her knee held down one of his legs.

Sherlock's eyes met hers, "Threatening me?" He asked amusement in his voice at the thought of the tiny woman doing such a thing.

She glanced back at the window, "That's the last thing I'd be doing, Holmes. I'm just doing what your brother told me to do."

He was about to reply when at that very second a massive explosion went off in the street behind them. The windows blew in and the thousands of tiny shards rained onto the ever calm Talia. She didn't appear to be bothered by it as she shot him a cheeky smirk.

Talia tilted her head at him as both hands reached towards his face, "Sorry, I'm just going to knock you out." Her voice was gentle now, eyes closing slightly.

Dark spots started to fill his vision as her hands traveled up to his forehead, "What…?" He managed out, blinking as he tried to clear his vision.

"Sleep, Holmes." Her hands moved once more, before going to a set of pressure points. "Mycroft will kick my butt if you don't." She winced a little as she tilted her head.

"The...The glass." He said slowly and his eyes felt heavy as she nodded in confirmation.

"I'll have it handled. I'd give them twelve minutes before they get on the scene. Don't worry about me, I am your bodyguard after all." Talia said, a hint of amusement in her voice as she sucked in a pained breath.

It would be days before he realized that she was serious, but for now, he just shot her an annoyed look.

"You're tiny-" Before he could finish his sentence, she pressed on the pressure points and rendered him unconscious.

* * *

Talia sat on the gurney in mild agitation, "Just remove the glass, I have someone coming over."

The woman at her back let out an annoyed sigh, "You're a real arse."

"Hurry up. If he wakes up and I'm still down here...Deportation will look like a slap on the hand." Talia stated tapping her fingers impatiently.

The woman slapped her on the back, "Fine."

Talia smirked as she pulled each shard, "It is always a pleasure to speak with you, Jordyn."

"I would say likewise but you're a pain to deal with." Jordyn replied dryly, yanking a piece of glass out as she rolled her deep brown eyes.

"You wound me." Talia dramatically grabbed her chest, faking a pained look on her face.

Jordyn snorted, "I could do that you know."

"Highly unlikely." Talia said lowly, closing her eyes as another glass shard was yanked harshly from her body.

The two sat in silence as people were sped off to the hospital.

Talia's eyes scanned her surroundings, taking in the chaos around her. The sound of a car rolling up grabbed her attention. She watched it as a man got out and looked around, stopping when he saw her.

"Jordyn, don't be gentle." Talia said, eyes never leaving the man's as he watched her with an amused look in is eyes.

Jordyn raised an eyebrow before shrugging, "Just don't mention this to my boss."

Talia ignored the sudden pain as she tilted her head at the men, "Mycroft. You're early."

He turned and glanced at the smoking building, "Hmm...Your abilities were correct again."

Talia folded her hands, eyebrow twitching as another shard was pulled out, "Sherlock is asleep upstairs." She looked at the folder in his hands, "You're here to discuss something, aren't you?"

He pulled his gaze away from the building, smile gone as he saw a particularly bloody piece of glass clatter to the ground, "Stitches?"

"Not enough time. Someone is out there blowing people's brains out and I don't want to be holed up with stitches." Talia replied, hands twitching in her lap, "You hired me to take care of him, not to be bedridden for a couple weeks."

He glanced at her sharply, "I would never have hired you if you didn't have that gift of yours."

Talia exhaled while shooting him a look of annoyance, "Yeah well my _gift_ is starting to fail more often. The longer I am away the more I will lose my ability. And then…" She lifted her hands to her head, "Boom."

He looked at her, expression still sharp but his eyes seemed to show concern, "There must be a way to stop it."

Talia sighed, looking at Jordyn before ushering her away and turning her tired eyes his way, "Only my people can help me. Mycroft, I'm going to be dead within months and there is nothing in this universe that can stop it. They knew that I would die when they exiled me, I…" She stopped and looked at him with pain in her eyes as he approached her. "...It wasn't just my family, I...I killed my husband that day. He was the equivalent of this world's vice-president. When they discovered that I killed him, they decided that kicking my ass to a universe where I would soon die was the best decision."

He was silent, the stony expression not even twitching as the young woman looked at her trembling hands. He wasn't good with emotions, never was never will, but he patted her arm gently.

They met ten years ago, she was different back then, long golden blonde hair that had begun to gray and the saddest pair of brown eyes he had ever seen. He didn't believe her at first, called her mad actually, but she proved who or what she was quite easy and he reluctantly believed her. He remembers the day clearly, the day she led him to the single most impossible thing ever to exist.

 _ **Flashback**_

Talia glanced back at him, silent as ever with a frown on her face.

 _Does this woman ever sleep?_ Mycroft thought, looking at the bags under her eyes. They were always there no matter the time.

Talia turned into an alleyway, "Here it is."

He almost scoffed at the sight of it, "A red telephone box?" He turned to face her, "I thought you said you had a spaceship."

"It only looks like that so people don't question what it is. Wouldn't it be weird to see a roman pillar in England?" She stated, raising her eyebrow at him as she walked towards the box.

He followed her as she opened the door, "I don't see how you could fly that thing much less fit both of us in it."

"Appearances can be deceiving, Holmes." She pulled the door open a little further, allowing him to see the inside.

He was about to respond but stopped when he saw the inside of the box. Instead of a normal interior, there was some sort of console surrounded by pristine white walls.

Talia entered and held out her hand, "Come on, Holmes."

Mycroft, who was too shocked to correct her on his name, took her hand as she pulled him in. The floor thrummed as soon as he put his foot down, almost as if whatever the box was, was greeting him.

"My people call this a TARDIS which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Though…" She paused and touched the wall, "These days she doesn't do much of the time or the space stuff. My people made sure that I couldn't try to escape this universe, but she can still take me to different places on earth...just no change in time."

"She?" He asked, folding his arms and shooting her a look of mild disbelief, "You call your box a she?"

Talia shook her head, the corners of her lips lifting for a mere second before falling, "The TARDIS is a living being, my people grow them and they have their own conscious. When they are matched with their Time Lord or Lady they can communicate with them telepathically. I wasn't matched with her, no, I was merely thrown in then exiled here, so I cannot hear her."

"So that's why the floor vibrated…" Mycroft muttered to himself before looking at the console, "This thing could take us anywhere on Earth?"

"Yep. However, I wouldn't want your family to worry, Holmes, so I'm not taking you anywhere." She said gently, putting her hand on his back and guiding him to the door, "Even if you think they don't care where you go, they do."

He turned around to look at her, "You owe me a trip."

Talia gave him a small smile, "If I ever get her up and running, I promise I'll take you on that trip, Mycroft Holmes." She held out her hand, "Deal?"

He gave her an amused grin, "Deal." He shook her hand, but paused in thought, "What if you...don't look like you? You said that could happen."

Talia looked thoughtful before reaching into her pocket, "Here." She dropped the small object into his hand, "If I forget you or you don't know it's me, just show me this."

"A key?" He asked aloud, looking at the key as it gave off a golden shimmer.

"To the TARDIS. She won't let anyone in except for me and the one who holds the key." She leaned against the doorway as he backed up into the dark alleyway, "I'll see you soon, Holmes."

 _ **Flashback end.**_

He never saw that version of her again and only discovered it was her when she went by a different name and had a different face. He just flashed the key at the woman and she looked stunned than happier than he ever thought she could be. He only knew that version for two months before she changed into the version that sat on the gurney next to him.

Talia looked at him, "You're thinking."

He glanced at her before looking back at the building in front of them, "Ten years ago, before you met me, how long were you...?" He didn't finish the sentence but knew she understood him.

She closed her eyes, "Before I met you, I was on Earth for a hundred and forty years. Didn't feel that long." She opened her eyes and shook her head, "Anyway, we should check up on Sherlock, I'm not sure how long he'll sleep and the last thing I need is him worrying about me."

Mycroft smirked, "My brother worrying? That would be a sight."

Talia hopped off the gurney, "Hey, he seemed pretty worried when I used my body as a shield. Asked about the glass even as I was hitting his pressure points." She shrugged, "Pretty worried if you ask me."

"Stubborn would be the correct term." He stated as she opened the door for him, "You took his key." He observed as she pocketed the object.

Talia smirked, "Oh, believe me, he knows."


End file.
